How to prepare the soil for tomatoes?

There are several important nuances that will ensure a good harvest of tomatoes. The fundamental role in the cultivation of vegetable crops is the soil. It requires proper care and fertilizer before planting tomatoes.

Tasty and environmentally friendly vegetables are the dream of any gardener. However, this result requires tremendous efforts to take care of the plants from the moment of sowing the seeds to harvesting.

In addition to the care of the tomatoes themselves, due attention should be paid to the choice of soil, since the proper growth and development of the vegetable crop will depend on its quality.

Tomatoes were brought to us from Holland, due to which they have a number of features related to breeding. For the growth of tomatoes that land will be ideal on which nothing has been grown for the past few seasons. The only exception to this rule is nettle. If, for one reason or another, it is not possible to plant seedlings in such a soil, experienced gardeners recommend staying in places where zucchini, pumpkin or carrots were growing, but these cultures should not have been ill with late blight.

If in the past, a similar disease in vegetables was observed, it is worth performing soil treatment with disinfectants.

Soil for growing tomatoes must meet the following requirements:

• the soil should pass air well;
• the land should be saturated with beneficial microelements, the composition of which must be systematically replenished with fertilizers;
• the presence of trace elements must be balanced, since the absence or excess of any substance will adversely affect the development of vegetable crops;
• the land should not contain plant residues;
• tomatoes love porous, moisture-permeable soil;
• in the greenhouse, the ground must be decontaminated for the presence of spores of fungi or germs that will destroy the young plant;
• The optimum soil acidity recommended for growing tomatoes varies between 6–7 pH;
• Biohumus, which is a compound formed as a result of the processing of natural substances by worms, must be added to the soil.

Giving the characteristics of the most favorable soil for growing tomatoes, it is worth noting which land will be completely unsuitable for this crop:

• Tomatoes can not be planted in acidic and alkaline soil;
• the composition of the land should not contain too many additives;
• on very wet or, conversely, over-dried soil, tomatoes cannot grow;
• Some soil mixtures have a low temperature, due to which planting tomatoes in such a soil will not bring the expected yield.

Activities with soil prior to planting tomatoes, you must start in the fall. Works consist in harvesting dried cultures. In addition, the earth must be dug up. As for greenhouses, many gardeners for the winter settle in them chickens. This method gives very good results by spring: the soil becomes soft and supple, in addition, chicken manure is a very good fertilizer. The positive features also include the fact that the soil after chickens is sterilized from insect parasites.

With the arrival of spring, the preparation of soil for planting involves a whole range of works:

• the seeds of other plants should be excluded from the soil;
• the soil should not contain pests;
• it is necessary to ensure the earth property to retain water;
• Among the recommended inclusions in the soil for good growth of tomatoes is to include sand or ash.

For adult vegetable crops such soil will need quite a lot, which can hit hard on the budget, but for seedlings to acquire such a composition is quite realistic.

In situations where there is no possibility or desire to use the purchase mix, you can cook it yourself. For this work you will need the following components:

• peat and turf - in the ratio 3: 1;
• sawdust;
• sand and mullein;
• manure and ash taken at the rate of 3: 1.

Sand with peat will be introduced in equal amounts, the ratio of the amount of mullein and peat is 1: 3. Such a soil will provide the tomatoes with all the necessary microelements that will allow the culture to fully develop.

It is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on the preparatory work concerning the ground in a given season.

• In the autumn period, In addition to clearing the land from dried plants and weeds, it is worth removing about 7 centimeters of soil from the beds. Such work will help get rid of pests that live and develop most often at this depth. After that, you should take care of the enrichment of the earth, especially nitrogen. For these purposes, you can use green manure or green fertilizer, for example, soybean, pea, clover. These plants need to be sown and to dig up the ground before the flowering phase.
• Winter work need to spend in January. They consist in the shelter of greenhouse beds with snow. If this stage is neglected, by the spring the ground will become too dry, which will make it impossible to plant tomatoes in it. Beds with snow need to dig up to ensure uniform distribution of moisture. For growing greenhouse varieties of tomatoes in the greenhouse, additional waterproofing of the soil is done on both sides of the beds. To do this, they lay a non-woven fabric on which a layer of sand is poured, a heating cable is laid on it, which is again covered with sand.
• Spring work associated with the careful loosening of the soil. This will allow the soil to pass air. Further, perlite and ash are additionally introduced into the ground, which will positively affect the water balance of the soil in the future. It is very important in the spring to feed the earth with organic matter. One of the options for feeding the soil should include breeding in the soil for tomato earthworms. They are placed in the pits, which are then powdered with earth. After planting worms in them, these places must be watered.

The roots of adult tomatoes exceed the size of its above-ground part by 15 times. The system has a main rod and side branches. The main task of the rod is the extraction of useful substances from the depth, the young processes are responsible for the upper layers of the soil.

As for the root system of tomato seedlings, then at first it is not yet so developed. After landing in the ground, the plant sends all its reserves to rooting, so during this period the plants need help, which is to feed the soil with necessary nutrients.

An excellent option for enriching the soil is considered the introduction of organic fertilizers. After their introduction in the fall, the soil was saturated with all the necessary elements. But in the spring, a day before the disembarkation of the seedlings of tomatoes, it is worth making an additional additional feeding. As a rule, it can be a weakly concentrated solution of manganese or yeast fertilizer, which is prepared in a ratio of 10 grams of yeast per 10 liters of purified water.

Another type of organic additives before planting tomatoes is the use of finely chopped eggshell.This powder is rich in potassium, which allows you to strengthen the young root system. This trace element is also contained in the ashes, to obtain it, you can use straw or sunflower. Ash should be put in one hole about 100 grams.

After planting, all the wells should be additionally covered with black soil.

As for mineral fertilizers, for seedlings planted in open ground or greenhouse, their use is not recommended. They will be needed at the stage of further growth of vegetable crops. After planting, the plant needs exactly those substances that will promote the growth and development of the root system.

As for the folk methods of feeding tomatoes, gardeners produce onion peel. Before planting, the composition of humus, onion peel and manure is formed, which is used both in dry form and in the form of a solution. Husk is a universal fertilizer for tomatoes, which will provide the plant with good yield and proper development. In addition, onion peel contains essential substances that protect the plant from pests.

Before planting seedlings, it is worth treating the soil with a compound that will provide plants with protection against fungal diseases. For these purposes, a solution of blue vitriol is used, which is heated to 100 degrees.

Use of a bacterial cocktail will have a positive effect on soil quality. It includes a set of different bacteria that perform the task of processing nitrogen, which is often in excess in the ground. After the introduction of such a fertilizer, the soil for tomatoes will have a favorable effect on the growth of seedlings and the future harvest. Similar products are sold in every store that sells products for the garden. Cocktail goes on sale the concentrated structure in ampoules. The composition must be treated soil for 3 months before planting crops.

The solution is prepared according to the scheme described below.

• The contents of the ampoule are diluted in 2 liters of water at room temperature. To increase the effectiveness of the composition, you can use rain or melt water.
• After dissolving, add a spoonful of honey to the mixture, pouring into a ten-liter container. It is covered with a lid and left to warm for three months.
• Watering the resulting fertilizer is performed a month before the planned planting of plants in the ground. The concentrated composition is diluted at the rate of 200-250 ml of cocktail per 20 liters of water.

After the tomatoes are planted in the ground, you need to regularly carry out feeding and plants, and the soil itself. You can follow the fertilizer scheme described below.

• After pre-feeding the soil and planting tomatoes, after two weeks, the soil should be treated with a complex of nutritional supplements, including the most essential trace elements.
• After 10-12 days, you need to pour a solution of potassium permanganate under each bush and add chicken manure. It is diluted with water in the ratio of 1: 15. In addition, it is useful to sprinkle the holes with wood ash.
• After another two weeks, the soil is enriched with potassium and superphosphate. Each well will require about 100 grams of nutrient composition.
• Three weeks after transplanting the soil, ammonium nitrate should be added. To do this, 25 grams of the substance must be dissolved in 8 liters of water.
• When the first flowers appear, mullein is used as a fertilizer.

During the preparation of formulations comprising several components, it is worthwhile to carefully consider the strict observance of proportions, otherwise you can get a completely opposite effect on the soil.

If it is not possible to prepare the fertilizer with your own hands, you can use ready-made additives that are always on sale. After the acquisition, they need to be diluted with water and pour over the wells, then sprinkle with soil on top. Among the products on the market, it is possible to distinguish such compositions that are in demand: "Superphos", "Mortar", etc.

As for folk recipes of fertilizers for tomatoes, in this case, you can select a top-dressing on the basis of yeast, which is diluted according to the following scheme: 20 grams of dry yeast is diluted in 10 liters of water, after which you need to let the mixture stand for about a day.

Under each bush you can pour ashes mixed with humus or compost.

For tomatoes that are grown in open ground or in greenhouse conditions, it is advisable to mulch the beds. This process involves the use of various natural materials. For example, the easiest way to fertilize beds with tomatoes is to mulch with mowed grass: straw is an effective way to feed soil and plants.

In addition, compost is often used for these purposes. It provides protection to plants from many diseases, and also is a universal fertilizer for the earth.

As for the recommendations of specialists with extensive experience in the cultivation of vegetable crops, It is worth highlighting a number of useful tips.

• From well-chosen varieties of tomatoes will directly depend on yield. This issue should be treated with due attention.
• Sand is a very useful component for the land in which tomatoes will grow, as it maintains soil moisture at an optimum level. In addition, the soil with sand becomes more loose, which has a positive effect on air circulation.
• To ensure maximum comfort in the cultivation of tomatoes and soil care, it is necessary to form beds in one row on average 60–70 centimeters.
• Choosing a day for planting tomatoes after all the activities related to the fertilizer of the earth, you should make sure that it is warmed up sufficiently. To determine the temperature, you can use an ordinary thermometer, it is immersed in the ground for 10 minutes. The optimum temperature for planting seedlings is considered to be not lower than +15 degrees.

How to prepare the ground for tomatoes, see the next video.